WARDEN — The Warden High School fastpitch team stayed the course on Tuesday, defeating the Granger Lady Spartans 17-0 in two innings in the first round of the District 5 tournament.

Warden Head Coach Randy Wright credited the win to the team’s defense, something that he believes will carry the Lady Cougars to a state title.

“We just gotta keep doing what we’re doing,” Wright said. “ We plan on winning state, that’s our plan. We don’t go to state just to show up, we’re going there to win it.”

The hits came early and often for Warden, with sophomore Briannalee Martinez recording a double at the first at-bat. Martinez stole home after a bunt by junior Kaylee Erickson to give the Lady Cougars their first run of the game.

After the first run, the scoring snowballed for the lady Cougars. An RBI single by senior Kiana Rios followed by two RBI doubles by senior Kaya Enriquez and sophomore Aliza Leinweber gave Warden a 4-0 lead over Granger. Following another RBI by sophomore Sierra Campos, Martinez delivered at the plate again with a grand slam to blow the game wide open.

“We got good pitching and good hitting,” Wright said, “That’s worked for us all year.”

The Lady Cougars scored five more runs before the end of the first inning, including a two-run home run by Enriquez. Warden scored 14 runs in the first inning alone.

“As long as your defense is there, you don't need that many runs to score,” Wright said. “It’s nice when you get a lot of runs, but defense always wins.

Down by 14 in the second inning, the Lady Spartans were unable to chip into the lead. The lone bright spot was a hit off of Rios, Warden’s pitcher. With the defense continuing to shine, it was a quick three outs before Granger was back in the circle.

“Especially in your playoffs and in your state tournaments you gotta have a consistent defense,” Wright said, “and it’s been consistent all year.”

Warden added three more runs in the bottom of the second inning before the run rule was enacted, ending the game. The win was the 15th shutout of the season for Wright’s squad, nine of which have come in the team’s previous 12 games.

“We’ve given up 13 runs this year, the whole season,” Wright said. “So, that’s pretty good.”

After a dominant win in the first round of the District 5 tournament, Wright believes his team has what it takes to make a deep run in the playoffs. Donning a No. 1 ranking in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s Rating Percentage Index in 2B fastpitch softball, the Lady Cougars will move on to face River View on Friday. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. that day. The River View Lady Panthers took down Cle Elum-Roslyn 10-7 on Tuesday.

“It’s the defense [that will help us win]. They don’t score on us.” Wright said in anticipation of the Friday matchup.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.